Volleyball Drills to Do at Home Without a Net or Court

Makeshift Drills When No Court Is Available

Passing Skills

An easy way to practice passing at home is to find a large wall, such as in your garage or perhaps outside, and pass against it. This allows you to focus on getting your form correct, and gives you good feedback as to how much control you REALLY have over the ball, since you want to continuously keep the ball up by passing it every time it bounces back off of the wall. If you can keep passing the ball up more than 10 times, especially for younger or newer players to the sport, then you are on the right path. To increase the difficulty of this, you can mark a box with painter's tape about 10 to 15 feet high and practice passing into the box. See how many times out of 20 you can get it in!

You could also practice rolling on your living room floor. Just make sure you have enough space. And carpet will work better if you are wanting to practice a lot, as it won't hurt all of your bones as much.

Partner Drill: You can pepper like normal, or do a passing variation, where you just pass back and forth, testing out different kinds of passes. You can try to catch your partner off-guard and give them a low, quick pass, or you can give them a high lofty pass. This keeps you on your toes and also helps you gain ball control.

Setting Skills

One fun thing I did to work on my setting was to get a ball and go into my kitchen (or anywhere there were hard floors) and sit in a computer chair. Then, practice setting so that the ball almost touches the ceiling. You can then keep setting the ball wherever it goes, because you are able to scoot around on the computer chair. Be careful that there is nothing you can run into that will break or hurt you!

Another setting drill is to just do wall sets. You can do this by getting your body about a foot or so from a wall and set so that the ball just barely goes above your hands. Keep your hands in the same spot, and work on your control of the set.

To work on setting and passing together, you can go outside (or wherever there's a high ceiling) and toss the ball to yourself, then pass it up straight followed by a high set to yourself. When you're a beginner, this will have you running all over your yard. As you become more skilled, you will be able to keep control of the ball for longer periods of time. Test yourself by seeing how many you can do in a row and chart your progress!

Partner Drill: For an intense setting drill, you can get a partner and get into sit-up position with your feet together. This puts you facing each other when you are in the "up" position of a sit-up. Now, one partner sets the ball to the other partner, and as soon as the ball leaves your hands, you go down and do a sit-up, and by the time you get to the top again, the ball should be there for you to set to your partner. Just keep going back and forth, and you will get more control of your sets and get a great ab work-out!

Video Examples of Drills to do at Home

One way to get better at attacking is to practice your footwork! Getting a fast approach only comes with lots of practice, and a fast approach can make you a much more effective weapon. To make this more beneficial, make sure you are jumping when you are practicing your footwork. This adds a vertical work-out as well.

You could practice your snap either in your bedroom or living room... wherever there are a lot of pillows. Pile them high and in a wide area, say, on top of your bed or on the couch. Then just toss the ball up, making sure you've got your hitting arm back and ready to hit, then swing through, focusing on snapping the ball down into the cushions. Again, make sure nothing breakable is near by. And don't do this if there's a window right behind your couch or bed!

Blocking Skills

You can practice your blocking skills outside by trying to jump up from a standing, slightly crouched position, and touch your gutters. This helps you focus on explosive power. Also, practicing your step-cross-hop footwork will help you get set up for more blocks if you are a middle, so focus on that too.

Serving Skills

Practice serving in your garage or shop by serving against a wall. Check with your parents to make sure this is alright first! Mark a line with painter's tape (the blue stuff) at 7'4 for women's 14 years and up, and 7' if you are playing in 12 and under. Make sure you are serving above this line every time, and try to get it just barely above to have an aggressive serve.

Mental Skills

I believe that this aspect of the game isn't talked about nearly enough. It is one of my favorite parts about volleyball, and I always love hearing new ways of doing things. To get yourself pumped up for workouts or practices, make a mix of songs that get your heart pumping! Bust out the beats right before your game or work-out, during a work-out, or blasting in your car on your way to a competition. This will get your mind focused on what you are striving to accomplish.

Another way to motivate yourself is to look through quotes and find one or two that really mean something to you. You will always remember them when you need them, and it can help you pull out of a funk in game situations.My personal favorite is, "No one conquers who does not fight." I am not sure who it's by, but it helps me fight through tough times on the court.

Being mentally prepared also involves learning new strategies. For example, knowing that the middle hitter across the net always hits to her right, your strategy would be to block her on that side, and make sure your middle back knows what you're doing so she can get lined up for a straight hit ball. Or knowing when and where to dump to if you're a setter. That can really pick apart a team.

Setting goals individually and for your team is another great way to get ahead in ANY sport. It helps you focus short and long term on what you want to accomplish, so you don't just wander through the season without improving!

Having great skills is awesome, but when you are always striving to learn new strategies and even come up with your own, you really grow in the sport and can become a top athlete either in your school, your league, or the nation!

If you have any other at-home practices that you do, please post them here so people can get more out of this post! Thanks!

Comments

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Mustache 2 weeks ago

Thanks

This is really helpful

Korbyn 2 months ago

Thanks soooo much!

JulieB 3 months ago

Thank you! This is so helpful! I’m always trying to find ways to practice but everyone is always so busy and sometimes I can’t go outside. Now I have ways to practice!

Megan 15 months ago

Thank you so much!

TheSpiker 15 months ago

I love this article and I agree that mental skills are really not talked much about. About the listening to music... Do you have any suggestions? It's hard for me to find music that motivates me every game.

Volleyball9 4 years ago

Thx this really helped me! And for "Amy" I'm also a right side hitter and a good drill for right side hitters inside us to practice ur footwork cuz some sets are going to be a little far out or a little too close bc they r trying to set backwards so if u have PERFECT footwork anywhere u can easily spike or tip any set or pass!

I hope that helps and remember never give up on ur dreams u can ALWAYS get better with practice and discipline

-volleyball9

jenny 5 years ago

these are great ways to practice yor volley skills i do not have acess to a net so they work out great thanks and i love all of the drills

amy 5 years ago

does anyone have any good at home drills for me. I live in New York City and don't have much space outside to practice on my own. Oh and I play right side so any drills focusing on that would be great!

Vballlover 6 years ago

I am really good at volleyball but at try-outs I had to partner with my friend who, no offense is kinda bad, turns out I didn't make the team so I really wanna try amazing the coaches the upcoming year and trust me there is a lot of fierce competition and idk if I might make it but I'll keep ur tips in mind...Thanks!

horsegirl 6 years ago

HHEY! so im going to be a freshman and missed all the volleyball camps, lame huh? So I rrreeaallly have to get back in the volleyball mode! I hope this will help me get back on track! thanks!

Catherine. (: 7 years ago

Love it! I'm going to be a Freshman this year and I really needed something to start from after not playing since the season in the fall. I need to get back in shape and get practicing to make the Freshman Team! Thanks! :D

Cindy 7 years ago

OMG thanks so much! I have no experience beside going to the gym every single day this summer with my friend who took a camp and working my ass off to learn everything. I didn't make the team unfortunatly (which people didn't think was right) but i am trying out for a league team and i am extreamly nervous. this will help me so much cuz there is a ton of snow and ice on the ground so i cant go outside. another good one is setting it high and making a full turn while clapping three times and setting it again and repeating this a few times to help height and control of your sets. :)

thevolleyballgeek 7 years ago

wow, this was great! i am in middleschool volleyball and the season is almost over. i want to keep in shape, so this really helped. Also, it's important to practice saving balls after they hit the net, you have to be able to get them back up, it's easy to practice this with two people.

eppie 7 years ago

another good setting drill is setting against a wall while slowly getting down on the floor and then get back up again it really makes you concentrate on where the ball is going.... thanks for all the advice i always love new tips that will help improve my game

farvbdev 7 years ago

i like

sam jraous

pooop 7 years ago

kaspertheghost drill is terrible

kaspertheghost 7 years ago

these are nice drills, i have one that i learned at a volleyball camp. take a ball and lay down on the floor and set the ball to your self. it works on ball control and a sence of balance. it will take u a while to be able to control the ball. hope u like it !

randomlady13 7 years ago

this is a really great resource. you've addressed so many different aspects of the game, and that's so important. people forget that it's all in your head!

volleyball-jumper 7 years ago

hey, nice hub, i gotta say i agree with you about the last paragraph (mental skills) i always believe that mental skills are as important ( if not more) then physical. there was a study they did with basketball players, one group they made physically practice shooting the ball for a period of time, and the other group only practice in there mind. what's amazing is that the second group did as well as the first, and all they did was visualize!

great hub

TT 8 years ago

Thank-you very much for these helpful tips. I will try them with my team and at home. My volleyballers will become better players than they already are. Thanks again and I will use these...

a setter 8 years ago

Setting up against a wall is a good idea because it helps with your hand eye and helps work on ball control. Good tip! :)

Author

whitney_185 8 years ago

ba de le, I'm glad you like it! It really is a good one to remember and keep in mind!

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